The Harwood arms continues to quietly offer one of the nicest dining experiences in West London. Without being flashy, it offers carefully cooked food, a thoughtful wine list and excellent service.
We went through the following, wines, all served blinds.
I brought a bottle of 2009 Chardonnay VV from Pierre Overnoy in the Jura. Pierre Overnoy recalls how he was treated ‘like an extra-terrestrial’ in the early 1990s when he was first making wine without sulphur additions. Now he has become one of the legends of an area that is getting increasingly exposed. This bottle was in great shape, showing no heat at all, to the extent that a couple of guesses round the table were tending towards Austria.
We next moved to the Rhone with a bottle of 1985 Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde by Guigal. In some ways the template for the Guigal style, long ageing in wood, around 36 months. Clearly had some nice age on it and I think we were all around the 70s and early 80s. Very good and retaining excellent freshness.
Moving towards a more muscular style, we had a bottle of 1995 Penfolds Bin 407. In the same way that Bin 389 is commonly referred to as ‘baby Grange’, this could be seen as a ‘baby 707’ We were guessing something American as it had a sort of oak and fruit polish that recalled Ridge Zindandels with a bit of age.
A classic 1998 Leoville Barton delivered the kind of effortless class that seems to be Bordeaux birthright. As we talked about modern Bordeaux over this, we shared mutual admiration towards Anthony Barton, one of the true gentlemen of the region. Someone who has never chased the buck or yuan, never souped up his wines, just travelled the world and tended the estate with a level eye and a long view on history. It wasn’t so long ago that he took over from his father and found himself in possession of an estate with crumbling machinery and an empty bank account. I guessed St-Julian, as I find sometimes the style of this region is about understated harmony. All the other left-bank appellations seem to have more of a trademark flavour characteristic. Crudely put, cassis for Pauilac, Tannin and spice in St-Estephe, Violets in Margaux and smoky minerality in Pessac.
We finished with a nice sweet wine and headed off to polish off a few pints before the pubs shut.